--When word got out that Mayor Menino wanted to bring in a petting zoo to revitalize Downtown Crossing, we thought it was a joke. But it turns out that the barnyard animals are at the crossing on weekends outside Filene's Basement. Animal activists are underwhelmed, and how can looking at sad, cold animals inspire people to shop? [Boston Herald] --Wondering what all the screaming was about early yesterday evening at Downtown Crossing? It didn't......

--It seemed as if the World Series put a cork in local gun incidents or the media (Bostonist included) was too busy with the Sox to notice. Now the cork is out of the bottle. The 45-year-old owner of Stalex Pizza in Dorchester was shot in the head this morning when he tried to go after an 18-year-old who robbed his shop. The man is in critical condition. The BPD announced that officers moved fast......

Bostonist missed a few matters in the midst of Red Sox Mania, such as the fate of radio personality and Herald writer Howie Carr. Carr went to a state appeals court judge in an attempt to overturn a ruling stating that his old employer, WRKO, had the right to match an offer made to him by WTKK. Carr's contract shenanigans left him stuck between stations and without a radio gig. And that's not going to......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

In Rhode Island you can't get married as a same sex couple. You can't get divorced as a same sex couple either. Well, at least not yet. According to the Providence Journal, the Rhode Island State Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments and give an answer to the question: "May the Family Court properly recognize, for the purpose of entertaining a divorce petition, the marriage of two persons of the same sex who......

The stabbing murder of Sylvester Mitchell is still bubbling. Police questioned Sharon Fitzpatrick, Mitchell's wife, and then they took out an arrest warrant for her. The BPD waited until the last paragraph of the blotter to note one shocking detail - Fitzpatrick worked for the BPD as a dispatcher. Needless to say, she's on leave. Fitzpatrick has turned herself in. Police are stressing that they haven't shown Fitzpatrick any special treatment. Fitzpatrick allegedly had a......

Child star, radio DJ, and reality-show fixture Danny Bonaduce, last seen naked save for a pudding cup at Harvard, is getting a divorce. His wife filed the papers and cited "irreconcilable differences." Given the picture associated with this post, we wonder why it didn't work out. Bonaduce and his wife, Gretchen, aired out their increasingly ugly marriage on the reality show Breaking Bonaduce. Bonaduce had an affair, which kicked off season one. In the middle......

Mike Daisey is a monologuist. It’s a term that can be broken down into the act of telling stories to an audience through the uses of narrative structure and spontaneity. The Mainer-turned-Brooklynite has a table, glass of water and rough story outline available to him to weave together elements of his life, history and surroundings. "Invincible Summer," currently in a run at the American Repertory Theatre's Zero Arrow in Cambridge, touches upon Daisey's adaptation......

It was such a short time ago that stabbings were flaring up all over the area. But yesterday shootings returned as the latest unfortunate trend in violence. --A young woman was shot in the leg while walking around Lowell yesterday afternoon. Three suspects were arrested, and police were saying "she was not the intended target," but it doesn't matter. The episode is reminiscent of the murder of Quinntessa Blackwell, who was also not the intended......

The Massachusetts midterms were downright sane compared to what happened in the rest of the nation. There was voter deception in Virginia. A poll worker strangled a voter in Kentucky (you'd think it would have been the opposite). Computer glitches slowed down voting across the nation. South Carolina's governor wasn't able to vote for himself. Britney Spears divorced K-Fed, which may have been a cultural sign that "The Man" was about to get stuck.......

Phillyist notes a fistfight between local pols that leaves one man down for the count. Jehovah's Witnesses get a Philly contributor out of bed, things get a little geeky with a film festival and geeky gets taken to a whole new galaxy when they talk with the Dragon Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Shanghaiist gets all excited this week over a new nightclub in the city unfortunately named "Snatch" and Mike Tyson is scheduled to......

This year attendance numbers were drastically down in movie theaters. That was the mantra being blasted at anyone who'd listen. When asked what was causing this, industry experts presented cases such as movie piracy, home movie theaters gaining in popularity, and if pressed enough, the waning quality of movies in general. If you looked hard enough or sampled enough of the releases, however, you would have seen a good number of entertaining and challenging films.......